- 210 feet long
- 41 foot beam
- 1610 tons
- twin 1175 HP diesels
- cruising speed 11 knots
- 4 12 person zodiacs with crane lifts
- up to 48 passengers
- crew - 31 + 4 naturalist guides
- produces 6000 gallons of fresh water per day by osmotic desalination
- doctor on board
- 24 hour bar
A great itinerary over 7 days - we very much wanted to visit the western island of Fernandina to see the flightless cormorants - most smaller boats don't make the long trek around Isabela - here's the itinerary
This was our first cruise. Can the independent Beebys survive with 46 other people? The challenge was made easier by the wonderful facilities. Normally a boat the size of the Eclipse has 100 passengers, but the boat is outfitted for only 48 - we had a large air conditioned cabin (we've had smaller hotel rooms!) with infinite hot water (HOT WATER!!!!!) for showers; indoor and outdoor dining areas; an elegant bar; a comfy sundeck and a very cozy library. All backed up by a smiling,
skilled, service focused crew...and very good, if somewhat bland, food - loved the breakfasts!
Life on board the Eclipse consisted of an early wake up call (6:45am most days - some days earlier) and then breakfast.....followed by the first excursion at 8am. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of snorkeling opportunities we had - often twice a day, plus a long walk/hike on shore in groups of 12 with a naturalist guide.
Some days we'd hike at 8am, then return to the boat for an 11am snorkeling departure - then lunch - then a siesta and another excursion at 3pm. One morning we left very early as the temperature was very high that day. Then there was a briefing each evening at 7pm regarding the next day's activities and dinner around 7:30. We had visions of bridge games after dinner but by then we were all too pooped!
There was one highlight to our cruise that we had never seen before in any hotel. Each day the cabin boy would leave our towels folded in some new creative shape - the sunglasses were Liz's!
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